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In 2005, Philadelphia became the first major city in America to mandate that all students take an African American history course in order to graduate. That landmark class could now be on shakier ground due to national politics.
Philadelphia district leaders haven’t said much about the impact of President Donald Trump’s actions on city schools. But the African American history course mandate is one of several city policies — covering issues like selective admissions and charter schools focused on Black students — that are potentially threatened by the Trump administration.
Early in his second term, Trump has pushed to reshape K-12 schools through a flurry of actions. One of his executive orders seeks to ban policies that could be construed as promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, which the president called “radical indoctrination.”
A subsequent “Dear Colleague” letter from the U.S. Department of Education’s top acting civil rights official warned education leaders that school diversity efforts could violate federal civil rights laws, even if such efforts don’t rely directly on race. Both the letter and Trump’s executive order threaten schools with the loss of federal funding if they don’t comply.
And in her mid-February confirmation hearing, Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee for U.S. education secretary, would not tell senators whether schools or districts might put their federal funding at risk by teaching an African American history class or other ethnic studies course — a response that U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, called “chilling.”
Amid the rapid-fire Trump education news, the biggest concern among educators is that the administration will try to withhold federal aid from districts that don’t follow its directives. Such aid is primarily intended to help students from low-income backgrounds and those with disabilities, and to bolster career and technical education programs, among other priorities.
Opponents of Trump’s policies scored an early win late last week when U.S. District Court Judge Adam Abelson issued a preliminary order blocking parts of the DEI ban, calling it vague, unconstitutional, and “pernicious.”
“If an elementary school receives Department of Education funding for technology access, and a teacher uses a computer to teach the history of Jim Crow laws, does that risk the grant being deemed ‘equity-related’ and the school being stripped of funding?” he wrote.
Even with that initial court victory, the potential for the Trump administration to wreak havoc on school budgets and policies is still worrying officials.
If federal funding were revoked, “it would be nothing short of catastrophic,” acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe told state lawmakers Monday during her department’s House budget hearing. The loss of millions in funds for students with disabilities “would cause irreparable harm,” she said.
But federal funding isn’t the only concern.
Another Philadelphia policy that could come in for scrutiny is the admissions process to the district’s four most selective high schools — Central, Masterman, Palumbo, and Carver High School for Engineering and Science. The lottery system adopted three years ago gives automatic admission to all qualified students from certain ZIP codes that rarely send students to those schools. Most of the residents in these ZIP codes are from low-income backgrounds and are Black or Latino.
In addition, several of the city’s charter schools, including Sankofa and Imhotep, were founded specifically to prioritize Black history and culture in their curriculum and to focus on combating racism. Charter leaders are planning to discuss this topic at their next meeting, said a spokesperson for Philadelphia Charters for Excellence.
Then there are the worries of teachers and principals about students in their schools who may be undocumented immigrants or have undocumented family members, and are on the alert for possible ICE arrests.
Other districts have already entered the harsh new political spotlight on schools. In Chicago last week, an outside group immediately challenged the district’s new Black Student Success Plan, a long-awaited blueprint meant to address persistent disparities in test scores, graduation rates, and other student outcomes.
“My concern is about what it means to teach African American history,” said Ismael Jimenez, Philadelphia’s social studies curriculum director. “Are we not able to talk about systemic racism? We can’t tell students that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves when we talk about the country’s 250th anniversary next year?”
Jimenez said he can’t imagine that the federal government would prohibit educators from teaching about Black people in America and leaders like W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington.
“Structural or institutional racism still exists,” Jimenez said. “They are viewed as divisive concepts. I guess that’s the argument why [Trump officials] don’t want those things taught.”
Educators fear ‘chaos’ driven by Trump directives
Tim Boyle, the principal of Science Leadership Academy Middle School, recalled that mandating African American history was a “big deal” two decades ago. Now he worries about the scrutiny such a class could draw from unsympathetic federal officials and others, especially as Philadelphia becomes the center of attention during America’s 250th anniversary celebration in 2026.
“The fact that we are celebrating America’s [250th] birthday next year … folks who would not normally be paying attention to Philadelphia are paying attention to Philadelphia. And that presents opportunities and challenges,” Boyle said.
In interviews, other educators said that they feared that any initiative focused on equity, such as transgender rights and even what books are stocked in libraries, could be subject to a federal civil rights challenge like the one against the Chicago plan for Black students.
“How safe is it for us to continue doing what we’re doing?” said Boyle. He wondered whether he’d have to worry about the district’s general counsel “giving me a call because some person is complaining about something I do here? It’s fuzzy now, and it was not fuzzy a year ago.”
Some are focused on ways to resist Trump’s actions. Kristina Moon of the Education Law Center said the Trump orders violate a congressional statute prohibiting the federal government from dictating local school curriculum, as well as safeguards against the withholding of federal funds for political reasons.
“Chaos, confusion and fear, that is really the purpose here,” Moon said of the executive order and the “Dear Colleague” letter from Acting Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “It’s important to note that there is a long process for rescinding federal funding as a punishment, and it has rarely been invoked.”
There is a legal difference, she said, between discriminating against an individual due to race and acknowledging that systemic racism exists.
In a press conference Monday, Gov. Josh Shapiro made it clear that he would aggressively fight against any attempt to withhold federal aid due the state, although he did not specifically discuss education funding.
He said that as a result of his mid-February lawsuit and his personal engagement with Trump’s team, the administration has unfrozen $1.2 billion in aid that it sought to withhold, mostly for environmental projects.
Federal education aid accounts for about 10% of the Philadelphia district’s budget of more than $4.5 billion. The biggest program is Title I, which prioritizes school districts with high levels of poverty; Philadelphia received over $193 million in Title I aid in its most recent budget.
At her confirmation hearing, McMahon declared that “it is not the president’s goal to defund the programs,” but that he wanted more efficiency.
Even if the attempt to tie federal education aid to curriculum mandates fail in court, education funding is still under threat, To help pay for tax cuts Trump has promised, a budget framework introduced by House Republicans would reduce federal education aid by $330 billion over 10 years, although much of it would focus on higher education, Inside Higher Ed reported.
The GOP budget blueprint would also cut money for Medicaid, which the families of many students rely on for health care.
Policies on admissions, equity could be scrutinized
A variety of other Philadelphia district policies could also come under scrutiny.
The district implemented the revamped admissions lottery at four of its most desirable schools in 2022, declaring it to be more fair and equitable than the prior system that relied heavily on principals’ judgement.
Some parents have filed a legal challenge against the lottery, arguing that the ZIP code preference is racially discriminatory. When the lottery was adopted, some parents noted with dismay that white, privileged residents in gentrifying pockets within these ZIP codes would also benefit from the new policy. But the ZIP code strategy was adopted by the Board of Education precisely to avoid accusations of racial discrimination.
In a decision last October, a judge with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sided with the district, stating that the process was “race-blind.”
However, the “Dear Colleague” letter interprets current law to mean that schools cannot use non-racial criteria to meet diversity goals, a legal position many say is misguided. In theory, that could put the 2022 admissions changes in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia school district has not scrubbed its website of references to DEI, and it still employs a chief equity officer.
Its website maintains information about its diversity, equity and inclusion work and says its purpose is to “cultivate prosperity and liberation for students and staff, starting with historically marginalized populations.”
But since Trump’s election, some educators feel that a lot of work they’ve done in that vein over the past few years might be at risk.
“We’re in an era where a family can call downtown and say, there’s a Pride flag that’s not allowed,” said Boyle, the principal of SLAMS. “Or, my kid is reading this book, and I wasn’t given an opt-out form.
“There’s not a lot of terra firma now,” he added.
Philadelphia Bureau Chief Carly Sitrin contributed to this story.
Dale Mezzacappa is a senior writer for Chalkbeat Philadelphia, where she covers K-12 schools and early childhood education in Philadelphia. Contact Dale at dmezzacappa@chalkbeat.org.
